I'm extremely disgusted with psychiatric professionals right now. Rio's psych eval was a complete waste of time as far as I can tell. Here's how it went.

First, I showed up with a stack of documentation, as recommended by Rio's counselor (who, incidentally, is no longer employed at this clinic and he has been reassigned to someone new). His school gave me a bunch of copies of their incident reports from the entire school year, and I wrote a 3-page letter detailing his family history, school history, and whatever else seemed significant. Then, when I arrived the receptionist had me fill out another questionnaire regarding his behavioral and medical history. So by the time we got into the MD's office I was prepared to hand over a plethora of information. I spent a significant amount of time writing that letter and compiling that information because I wanted him to have as much information as possible to work with before he assigned some dreaded label to my son.

He never even looked at it. Not one word.

The thing that really irked me about that "evaluation" is that he spent the first 45 minutes or so just talking to me, about Rio, in front of Rio, while Rio amused himself in the corner. This was a tiny office, so Rio was privy to our entire conversation. I have never felt comfortable discussing the intricacies of my son's behavior right in front of him. I don't think he needs to listen while I analyze his every issue for the benefit of a professional. Therefore, my answers were stunted and incomplete. I kept trying to refer him to my letter or to the paperwork in my lap but he continually brushed me off, saying "No, no, you've told me enough."

No, dipshit, I have NOT told you enough! I CAN'T tell you enough because Rio is right here listening to our every word and this is totally fucked up WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU DON'T YOU GET IT????

I'm sorry to say that I did not respond in that manner. Now, I wish I had actually been more assertive. But I was really nervous and totally at a loss and not really sure what to do while Rio was right there. And all along I figured I could at least hand over my paperwork when we were done and he would look them over later. But no, he refused to accept them even when our meeting was over. No, he had heard and seen enough. He had it all figured out. Probably ADHD or Oppositional Defiant disorder. Oh, and did he mention that all he really does is prescribe medication?

Useless bastard. I'm already shopping for a new psychologist. They can't all be bad.